The invention relates generally to automotive vehicle transmissions which include means for adjusting the position of the output gear connecting the transmission to an axle of the vehicle. The invention particularly relates to such transmissions which include within a casing an input shaft, an output shaft, and a plurality of shift rods positioned generally parallel to the input and output shafts to provide means for manipulating the coupling sleeves of synchronizers to provide operation of a selected gear in a gear train connecting the input and output shafts, the output shaft extending through a partition within the casing to connect to an axle of the vehicle.
Such an automotive vehicle transmission is disclosed in German Patent No. 1,217,218. A combined housing is provided for an axle transmission and a gearshift transmission with a partition being formed therebetween accommodating one bearing for the output shaft and for the output gear attached to an end face of the output shaft. The bearing for the output shaft and the output gear can be axially displaced to adjust the correct contact of the output gear teeth to the axle. In order to avoid readjustment of the shift rods lying parallel to the output shaft, and/or of the shifting forks connected thereto, with respect to the coupling sleeves moved concomitantly with the axial displacement, the shifting rods and their blocking means are arranged in an extension of the bearing flange so that they participate in each case in the axial displacement.
However, this construction still has a disadvantage remaining in that the selector shaft supporting the gearshift fingers engaging grooves of the shift rods is itself supported in the transmission casing and must be readjusted after setting the output bevel gear contact. For this purpose, the gearshift fingers are attached to the selector shaft by means of releasable clamping screw means. In order to render the selector shaft readily accessible from the outside, the transmission casing is divided in the immediate vicinity of the selector shaft so that, after removing one half of the housing, readjustment can be effected.
The object of this invention resides in designing and arranging the gearshifting elements of the automotive vehicle transmission in such a way that readjustment becomes unnecessary after setting of the output bevel gear contact.
This object is achieved by providing a support for the bearing of the output shaft and gear which includes means for supporting the selector shaft and other portions of the selector means for coordinate movement with the bearing during the initial setting of the play between the output bevel gear and the vehicle axle. The support comprises a bearing clamping plate of a special construction designed to arrange all of the shifting elements for the gear preselection and gearshifting operation as well as for the interlock and preselection route blocking mechanisms thereon so that they participate in the sliding movement during setting of the bevel gear play and thus readjustment can be omitted.
In order to obtain a compact, space-saving arrangement of the bearing clamping plate, the selector control shaft supported in the bearing clamping plate acts by way of the gearshift fingers on a selector sleeve, the axis of which extends along the bearing clamping plate and perpendicularly to the shifting rods, and is likewise mounted in the bearing clamping plate. Accordingly, all gearshift elements can be integrated into the bearing clamping plate. The latter can be inserted in the casing as a preassembled module. Since no readjustment of the gearshift forks whatever is reguired, the latter can be pinned to the shifting rods.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived. The detailed description particularly refers to the accompanying figures.